Chapter 2
Erin
As we drove deeper into the mountains, the world outside the car window blurred into a smudged tapestry of greens and browns. I leaned my head back, trying to still the trembling of my hands.
It was hard to believe that two years had passed since I fled my life in Chicago.
I thought about the night that changed everything, the chill of the ice cream freezer, the terror when the gun fired, the blood.
.. If I'd only stayed in the freezer for another minute, but no.
I had to run my stupid ass out there and see what happened.
The car turned off the main road onto an even narrower path, the tires crunching over gravel and twigs. The dense canopy of trees seemed to swallow us whole. Each jolt of the vehicle on the uneven terrain ricocheted through me, a cruel reminder that there was no going back.
"Almost there." The man behind the wheel, a nondescript brute whose name I didn't know, grunted. His words were casual, but they carried a death sentence. "Don't try to be clever when we get there. You'll regret it."
A cabin emerged as we came to a clearing in the thick forest. The small building looked like it'd been abandoned for the last century.
He pulled up to the front and killed the engine. I thought of all the plans I'd made, the life I'd painstakingly built from the ashes of my old one. It was a cruel joke that this would be where it all ended, not with a bang but with the sinister quiet of the woods.
The thug got out, then opened my door. I shrank against the other door. What else could I do?
"Get out."
Hell, no. I wasn't move. When he leaned in to get me, I kicked with everything I had, but he just grabbed my ankles and yanked.
His hand wrapped around my arm, steely and unyielding as he guided me out of the car.
I stumbled, my ankle turning as I continued struggling against him.
This might very well be where my story concluded.
In a forgotten cabin hidden deep in a hollow of the mountain, where no one could hear my screams.
"Let me go." I snarled, summoning every ounce of strength left in my battered spirit. I’d spent the last few years watching video after video of self-defense moves.
I guess that was time wasted. None of them worked.
I thrashed against his hold, my elbow aiming for his gut in a desperate bid for freedom.
I had to fight, even if it was futile, because surrender wasn't an option, not when submission meant death.
He was prepared for my rebellion. His fist came out of nowhere, connecting with my cheek with a sickening thud.
Pain exploded across my face, stars dancing before my eyes as my legs buckled beneath me.
The world tilted, a dizzying carousel of dark pines and the gray sky, mocking me with their stillness.
"Nice try." He breathed against my ear, hot and moist as he hauled me up, half-dragging, half-carrying me toward the cabin.
My vision swam, and my stomach heaved, partly from his rancid breath.
The edges of my consciousness frayed with each jarring step we took.
The earthy scent of pine needles mixed with the copper tang of blood in my mouth, grounding me in the horrifying reality of my situation.
I leaned heavily against him, my body betraying me, refusing to cooperate no matter how much my mind screamed to keep fighting. The wooden floorboards groaned in protest under our combined weight as he maneuvered me through the threshold. Shadows clung to the corners of the rustic interior.
"Please," I gasped, the word barely a whisper as black dots danced at the periphery of my vision. It wasn't a plea for mercy. I knew none would be given, but a silent prayer to whatever deity might be listening to grant me the strength to endure what was to come.
His grip was iron as he shoved me into a chair, the wood creaking ominously beneath me. I could barely keep my head up and my thoughts were sluggish.
"Stay still." He looped rope around my wrists with ruthless efficiency.
The coarse fibers scraped against my skin, biting into my flesh as he knotted it tight.
I tried to wriggle free, but each movement sent fresh waves of nausea crashing over me.
Panic threatened to overwhelm me again, but I stifled it.
I couldn't afford to lose myself to fear, not now.
He secured my ankles next, the finality of each knot echoing in the hollow space of the cabin. Bound and helpless. Finally, the asshole stepped back, surveying his handiwork with a smug tilt to his lips that made my blood run cold.
"Comfortable?" His voice dripped with mockery, and I glared at him through the veil of my red hair, refusing to dignify him with a response.
As he circled me like a shark scenting blood, I took stock of my captor. I had never seen this man before, but the fact that he allowed me to see his face, full of scars and malice, suggested a grim outcome.
Time stretched on, each tick of the clock a thunderous roar in the silence. Shadows grew long as they crept across the floor, the sun's retreat doing nothing to ease the dread tightening around my heart. I was sure what he was waiting for. That made the whole situation even more fucked up.
I strained against my bonds, not out of any genuine hope of escape, but because surrendering felt like a betrayal to the memory of my parents, and to the life I'd fought so hard to build. Before they’d died, my life had been all sunshine and roses.
It was like their death had released a storm of bullshit.
I’d fought through all of it, only to die at the hands of some idiot thug? Damn it!
The man watched me struggle, an ugly sneer twisting his features. He enjoyed the way desperation painted my features. This was one twisted man. I really wasn’t making it out of this alive.
I thought of my parents again, their love, their legacy, how they'd always believed in me. And Nathan, my kind neighbor, whose friendship had been a solitary comfort in my new, cloistered existence. They wouldn't have wanted me to give up, to let this monster see the extent of my terror.
However, I was on my own. So that meant it was up to me to get out of this.
"Whatever you're thinking." He broke the heavy silence. "Forget it. There's no way out for you."
He was wrong. There was always a way out. Even if it wasn't apparent at that moment, even as the dusk began to claim the day, I held onto that sliver of hope.
As the sun started its descent, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink, the man's taunts became a grotesque melody against the backdrop of my fading hope.
His words slithered through the thickening air, a series of vile promises about what awaited me once his boss got his hands on me.
The ropes bit into my wrists, but it was his voice that gnawed at my sanity.
"Did you really think you could hide forever?" He paced before me. "The boss has plans for you, oh yes. Plans that'll make you wish you'd never been born."
Closing my eyes, I tried to block out his lecherous gaze and venomous words. I thought of the inn, of the laughter of guests that should have filled its halls, of the dreams that were crumbling to dust even as I sat bound to a chair.
"And me," he said, his tone dropping to a whisper that somehow felt louder than a shout.
"I get to have my turn with you. A reward for my loyalty.
" He chuckled, a sound devoid of any humanity, and bile rose in my throat. "The boss don’t like snitches, and that means I get to play to my heart’s content. "
Just then, the earth trembled, shaking the entire cabin. What the hell now? At first, I thought it was my own body, refusing to contain the dread anymore. The windows rattled, and the wood of the cabin itself groaned. The man stopped in his tracks, his face momentarily clouded by confusion.
Turning my head toward the window, my vision blurred by tears and terror, I saw something unbelievable. Impossible.
A huge-ass dragon with scales as black as the darkest night landed outside the window with a force that shook the world. Its massive, powerful legs and imposing head were like something out of a fantasy movie.
Fear had finally fractured my mind, conjuring up this mythical beast as a means of escape. Yet there it was, outside the window, its enormous wings folding along its back as it settled onto the ground, sending clouds of dust into the air.
"What the fuck is that?" The man gasped, turning pale as he stared at the creature. His bravado was gone, replaced by an unmistakable glint of fear.
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Here I was, bound and broken, on the precipice of an ending too grim to contemplate, and yet the universe had sent a dragon.
Perhaps it was madness to hold on to hope, but as its large, intelligent eyes met mine through the glass, I dared to believe that freedom might come on jet-black wings.
The ground trembled beneath the dragon's weight as it prowled closer to the cabin. My captor stumbled backward, his eyes wide with the fear reserved for predators at the top of the food chain.
He pulled a gun from his waistband with shaking hands. His confidence had evaporated into the thickening dread that now filled the room.
I could barely process the surreal tableau before me. The dragon's scales gleamed like obsidian under the twilight sky, each one a shield forged in nightmares and fantasy. It was magnificent and terrifying all at once, an enigma defying the logic of my world.
"Please," I whispered hoarsely, not sure if I was begging the man or the beast. As the dragon's gaze held mine, an inexplicable calm settled over me, a silent assurance that seemed to whisper, I'm here for you.
"Shut up," the man said, his voice cracking.
Had he heard that too? I thought I'd imagined it.
Fuckface edged toward the door, but the dragon let out a resonant growl, a sound that vibrated through the walls, commanding attention and obedience.
I tasted blood, realizing I'd bitten my lip hard enough to draw it. The coppery tang mixed with the heady scent of the musty cabin and fear as my mind reeled. Each second elongated, stretching out into an eternity as we waited for the inevitable confrontation.